Sliding cabinet door

Question

So I'm trying to attach a door to my bathroom cabinet using drawer slides. I think I have it put together correctly, but both the top and bottom keep coming off the track. Since it needs to slide to the left I'm guessing the right side of the track should be up top? For some reason I'm at a total loss. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

Essentially a pair of drawer slides is designed so that they are mirror image, with the drawer sliding on "top" of each slide. By using them as door slides, you are using both of them in "right" or both in "left" configuration. But they are not designed for that use, so they don't work correctly.

In addition, drawer slides are hidden when the drawer is closed, so they are designed in ways that may be convenient to manufacture but not necessarily covered up visually when used as door slides. And on top of that, drawer slides generally have to support much more weight than door slides, so they are overbuilt compared to what you typically need for a door.

Plus there is supply and demand. Door slides are commonly used for 2 doors on one track. Which means the track doesn't need to extend like a drawer but instead is a simple static device. You slide the left door to the right in one part of the track or you slide the right door to the left in another part of the track. It isn't impossible to make door slides that are more like (but not exactly the same as) drawer slides, but it is relatively uncommon, because with a single door most people are OK with either a left or right hinged setup.

If the concern is simply that you don't want the door sticking out at a 90 degree angle when open, look for 180 degree hinges. Those are designed so that you can open the door so that it is flat against the next cabinet or, if the cabinet is inset into a wall, against the wall.